Indian official says attack plan ready: Defence ministry plays down report
NEW DELHI, June 3: The India military categorically ruled out on Monday the use of nuclear weapons in case of war with Pakistan.
“The government makes it clear that India does not believe in the use of nuclear weapons. Neither does it visualise that it will be used by any other country,” the defence ministry said in a statement in New Delhi.
The hastily-issued statement appeared to be a damage-control exercise following comments from Indian Defence Secretary Yogendra Narain saying that India would retaliate with nuclear weapons if Pakistan used its atomic arsenal, and that both countries must be prepared for “mutual destruction.”
Narain, the country’s most senior defence ministry bureaucrat, also said in an interview with Outlook magazine that India’s command-and-control, or the nuclear button, was in place and ready.
“Everything is finalized. It is in the hands of the civilian government and we don’t expect any delay in issuing orders,” he told the news weekly. It was the first such public comment by a senior bureaucrat on the country’s nuclear command structure.
In his interview, Yogendra Narain had said that the Indian army had a “moral and legal right “ to launch a punitive attack on Pakistan, adding ominously: “We can strike at three hours’ notice.” In an interview likely to further dismay the international community, Narain said the Indian government was actively considering “surgical strikes” against its nuclear rival.
He revealed that New Delhi had originally planned to attack Pakistan in the wake of an raid by militants on India’s parliament building last December. But it changed its mind after Gen Pervez Musharraf promised to clamp down on militant groups. He hinted that the plan had now been revived.
Although nothing has been ruled out, New Delhi is believed to favour a symbolic punitive attack on “terrorist” training camps inside Azad Kashmir.
Narain told the magazine that India was entitled to cross into Pakistani territory and attack militant training camps. The government was prepared for the possibility that any confrontation with Pakistan might turn nuclear, he said.
“Pakistan is not a democratic country and we don’t know their nuclear threshold. We will retaliate and must be prepared for mutual destruction on both sides,” he added.
India’s Hindu nationalist-led coalition government appears to be considering two main options: a short, swift special forces raid on training camps or precision air strikes on the camps and their infrastructure. Supporters of this strategy point out that the militant bases are located close to the line of control and say a plane could hit the target and return to Indian territory in five or six minutes.
But both plans have several flaws. In previous conflicts the Pakistanis have picked off India’s warplanes. There are also doubts whether Indian intelligence is up to the job of correctly identifying militant training camps, many of which are little more than ramshackle structures.
There are also grave uncertainties that how Pakistan would respond.
Last week Gen Musharraf promised to take the battle “into Indian territory” if attacked — in effect, opening up a new theatre of war somewhere else.
The other unknown factor is how Gen Musharraf — who last week carried out three tests of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles — would respond if Pakistan’s conventional army crumbles.
It is this uncertainty, more than any pressure from the international community, that has
so far prevented New Delhi
from acting. Narain admitted that “surgical strikes” would probably take place if diplomacy failed. “We know that there
will be retaliation on other parts of the border from Pakistan. It will escalate and will not be confined to one region,” he predicted.
Highly-placed military sources said Narain’s comments have sent alarm bells ringing in India’s civilian establishment.—AFP/ Guardian News Service
